Seventy years ago this year, the heavy cruiser “U.S.S.
Houston (CA-30)”—flagship of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet during World War II—was sunk by the Japanese in the Battle of
Sunda Strait. Of the 1,068 crew members on the “Houston,”368 survived the sinking of the ship on
March 1, 1942. They swam many hours to the shores of Java in Indonesia, where
nearly four years of imprisonment at the hands of their Japanese captors
awaited.

Survivors
and family members of the crew of the “U.S.S. Houston” will view the permanent
U.S.S. Houston Exhibition during a 70th Reunion and Reception in the Rockwell Pavilion at the M.D. Anderson
Library. They will also tour the stacks
of Special Collections, where the main Cruiser Houston Collection is kept for
the use of researchers. The visitors are from the U.S.S. Houston Survivors
Association and Next Generations.

Participants
will hear about using the collection from Julie Grob, special collections coordinator
of digital projects and instruction before touring the stacks.

On
view in the UH permanent exhibition are a ship’s bell, two crew member
uniforms, letters, photographs, artifacts made in the POW camps and other materials
related to the crew’s experiences.

This
excerpt is from the diary of Communications Officer H.A. Levitt:

“…In a little while we were
joined by Lieut-Cmdr. S. Smith and one enlisted man. After a brief period, we
saw in the distance, two men supported by a 5” ammunition can. The seaman, who
had been with Rogers and I went off to get them. They were stark naked and had
only the 5” ammo can for support. We rejoined the group with the two newcomers
who identified themselves as Marines. Lt. Cmdr. Smith and I contrived to keep
the two along with us by having one hold to each of our jackets and keeping the
ammunition can between them for additional flotation. In this manner we
continued swimming toward the mainland.”

In 2011, a group of members of the U.S.S. Houston Survivors
Association/The Next Generations together purchased a rare Captain’s Night
Orders Book (April 18, 1939 – October 16,
1940) from eBay and donated it to the collection.

For more information and to preview materials in the
Cruiser Houston Collection, visit http://info.lib.uh.edu/sca/digital/cruiser/cruiserh.htm